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First nation launches $10 billion lawsuit

· Gail Jansen ·
First nation launches $10 billion lawsuit

On January 10, 2012, the George Gordon First Nation, located near the village of Punnichy, Saskatchewan, filed a $10 billion claim with both provincial and federal governments regarding potash and oil properties bordering its territory.

In the claim the nation contends that BHP Billiton’s Jansen potash project and other large potassium deposits owned by the Acron Joint Stock Company are on lands that should have been included in the George Gordon Treaty Land Entitlement Settlement Agreement entered into by the province of Saskatchewan, the government of Canada and the George Gordon First Nation in 2008.

“The general tenor of the lawsuit is that George Gordon First Nation, like many First Nations in Saskatchewan, are still owed land by Canada and Saskatchewan,” said Jeffrey R. W. Rath, an Alberta-based lawyer who is representing the nation. “Before disposing of valuable oil and gas or potash lands to third parties . . . there’s an obligation on the governments to find out from the First Nations whether they are interested in acquiring those lands first, which they did not do.”

The United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, article 26, states that indigenous peoples have the right to the lands, territories and resources which they have traditionally owned, occupied or otherwise used or acquired. That includes the right to own, use, develop and control the land.

That declaration is fully supported by Chief Wallace Fox of the Onion Lake Cree Nation near Lloydminster.

“Our inherent and treaty rights are internationally recognized and constitutionally protected,” said Fox. “There’s an obligation on both Canadian and Saskatchewan governments to find out from First Nations their interests in acquiring those lands first, and in this case, with the George Gordon First Nation, they were not consulted.”

A spokesperson for the federal government’s Aboriginal Affairs and Northern Development said a statement regarding the claim will be made after the agency files a statement of defense with the courts.